Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

In an April 8 ruling, the Georgia Supreme Court denied a motion against the Safer Human Medicine primate facility. The motion, a petition for certiorari, had been filed by District Attorney Joe Mulholland, challenging a November decision by the Court of Appeals; this ruling had been in favor of the SHM project bond.

In a press release, Safer Human Medicine stated they were “pleased” with the Court’s ruling.

“With the Supreme Court’s denial of this challenge, we can begin preparing for construction on our state-of-the-art facility that will advance American medical research, provide good-paying jobs, and increase economic opportunities for Bainbridge, Georgia,” said Safer Human Medicine CEO Jim Harkness. “We look forward to breaking ground and earning the people’s trust in this community as we build our business and meaningful relationships. We will do that by operating with the highest standards and supporting American medical research to develop new life-saving medicines.”

While SHM expresses confidence in the project moving forward and business beginning, critics of the project say the legal matters are far from over, as there are still other lawsuits to be addressed.

“The Georgia Supreme Court’s decision not to review the Court of Appeals’ decision in the challenge to the bond validation order changes nothing,” said PETA primate expert Dr. Lisa Jones-Engel. “Safer Human Medicine is no closer today to fulfilling its promises—or its obligations—than it was two years ago. This narrow jurisdictional ruling has no bearing on the two critical state lawsuits still pending: the Open Meetings Act case and the public nuisance case. Either one could halt this project entirely.”

No Monkey Breeding Bainbridge, GA, the local citizen group that has organized against the project, held a protest in front of City Hall on Friday afternoon, voicing their unchanged opinions with signs reading “It’s not over yet,” and “Small town people, D.C. Politics”.

The group issued a statement to the Post-Searchlight, stating, “So it is valid to say that The State’s reply makes it clear that the Supreme Court’s denial doesn’t allow the project to proceed—it simply confirms the project is already blocked for other legal reasons. If agencies try to move forward anyway, they could face serious legal trouble, including scrutiny over misleading statements made to both federal and Decatur County courts…as well as local citizens.”

The citizen’s group plans to hold a community round table discussion on Thursday, April 24, at 107 N Clark Street, Bainbridge, from 6:00 to 7:00 PM. The stated topic for the evening is “planning and strategizing as a community.”

The Post-Searchlight reached out to District Attorney Mulholland for comment on the State’s ruling, but as of the writing of this article, has not received any response.